


Coming Together

by Karinakamichi



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Adoption, Also before you say anything I’m aware that this story is crap thank you, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asexual Character, Author projecting onto everybody and making everything worse, Autism, Autistic Edward Elric, Binging, Borderline Personality Disorder, COPD, Child Abandonment, Cutting, Dante is a piece of shit, Depression, Drama, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Eating Disorders, Ed has issues but isn't really asexual, Ed is really fucking irritable at first, Edgy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Everyone Is Gay, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Found Families, Genderqueer Character, Hugging, Hypoglycemia, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I hate myself, I'm Bad At Tagging, It seemed like a good idea and premise in theory but I’m not happy at all with the results, Kind of Autistic Alphonse, Kissing, LGBTQ Character, Ling's father is a piece of shit, M/M, Major Drama, Mama Hawk, Non-binary Wrath, Non-binary character, Overly protective Roy mustang, PTSD, Parental Riza Hawkeye, Parental Roy Mustang, Past Sexual Assault, Pining, Please Kill Me, Protective Riza Hawkeye, Protective Roy Mustang, Purging, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, a total good boi, also raven is a douchebag, and big brother envy may come in later, and he has his reasons for being like that, and super edgy, asexual alphonse, asexual wrath, author regrets everything, autistic wrath, bad orphanages, basically everybody is lgbtq+, but he becomes more himself over time, but they are supporters to the end, can i die for writing this, even I don’t like it, fucking kill me, god this is a pile of shit, i don't want to tag because i hate this just that much, i don't want to title it, it’s cringe at its worst, izumi and sig are good and try their best, ling is a precious boy, lots of projection, only roy and riza are straight pretty much, past rape discussion, plus projection, some of the first chapter is rushed and i don't like it, they them pronouns for wrath, to understand, tuberculosis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-26 16:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20392345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karinakamichi/pseuds/Karinakamichi
Summary: Edward, who secretly cuts himself and sometimes starves himself as a way to cope with everything wrong in his life, and his younger brother Alphonse, who always seems to remain rather optimistic despite his situation, are taken in from an orphanage by the retired veteran couple, Roy and Riza, four years after their mother Trisha dies. Enter Ling, a Chinese student dealing with both racism from peers, an emotionally abusive/neglective father, a past eating disorder, and Aoya(2003 Wrath), a sort of broody loner that suffers from depression and also secretly self-harms just like Edward does. Main pairings are EdLing and Asexual!AlWrath. Non-binary/Genderqueer!Wrath. Possibly some(Temporary) AlMei. Side pairings will RoyAi and ShesWin. Roy and Riza are LGBTQ+ allies to the end!





	1. Chapter 1

**Story Title: ** ** _Coming Together_ **

_ **Honestly, this first chapter is a completely horrible mess, but it's an old doc that's been sitting around on my google docs account and I figure it's better to get it up than to never put it to use, I guess…? But honestly this first chapter, even looking back on it now is honestly an embarrassment… ** _

**Disclaimer: _I_** ** _ don't own FMA._ **

**Note: ** **Before anything else, even though it's pretty obvious by the summary, I should probably confirm that this story will pull aspects from both FMA anime series, so if you've not seen one anime or the other, this might(???) confuse you a little, although I highly doubt it since it IS an AU, and the story itself should give proper answers for any questions you may have. I'll be trying my best to apply canon facts to this, but a lot of this will be written from my own experience. **

**Secondly, this is honestly one of the only AUs I've ever written and typically these don't go well at all for me due to trouble keeping a steady plot, so I don't how long this will last. So if I discontinue this at some point, please please forgive me. AUs and especially High School AUs are even harder for me and my ADHD than normal canon stories to keep up with, but I will try my very best.**

**I haven't decided for certain, but there may also be some AlMei at ** ** _first,_ ** ** but it will only be a temporary pairing if I decide to go with it, because AlWrath is the end game pairing for Alphonse. Mei may act a little dislikable at some points in this story, but she's not a bad person when it comes down to it, I promise. **

**NEXTLY AND VERY IMPORTANTLY, part of which you could probably gather from the summary, there will be some sensitive topics like cutting, self-harm, unhealthy coping mechanisms, self-esteem issues, emotional abuse/neglect, depression, trauma from sexual assault and symptoms of both Borderline Personality Disorder and Autism(mostly in Ed, but autistic stuff in Wrath and even in Al to some degree, but it's all projection and will be inevitable, so I apologize in advance), there will also be PTSD(especially in Riza's and Roy's cases), and possibly eating disorders(not otherwise specified). Additionally, there will also be mixed messages on the situation with Hohenheim. I'm definitely gonna have him come back into the picture later on and that's gonna be a fiasco, because, once again I'm kind of projecting due to my own experiences. Hohenheim, like was my own father, will be a flawed person in this, but he does love his sons, he's just difficult and isn't really… fit to be a father. He does what he can and isn't the worst person or anything, but he's most certainly not the best father. (I mean he definitely doesn't have the excuse to have left them that he did in the manga or 2003). Speaking of Hohenheim, Envy is also Ed's older half-brother in this too, but he probably won't be around much until later, and he's estranged from Ed and Al, so their relationship will be kind of nonexistent and most likely unknown by Ed and Al at first, since he ended up staying with Dante. Speaking of Dante, she's a huge prick, and an emotionally neglective psychopathic bitch lacking love for Envy, which will be, alongside Hohenheim's abandonment, what helped contribute to his personality in this. He will be called "William" in this and if anybody has any ideas what I could do with him, please let me know.**

**Lastly for now, Ling has hypoglycemia, while Trisha(just like my mom) also had hypoglycemia and COPD, but additionally tuberculosis, which is the main thing that killed her in this.** **  
** **  
** **Anyway, onto the story.**

**.....**

_ Drip. Drip. Drip.  _

Edward watched as the blood coming from his arm dripped into the warm bathwater beneath him. He could never place exactly why, but watching the blood seep from his wounds always managed to placate him and soothe him when he was anxious. It was something he had been doing for several years now since his mother had died. It was bad enough when their father abandoned him and his Brother, but once Trisha was gone, it felt like a whole new and much worse wound had opened. And it would forever be fresh in his mind, just as if it had happened yesterday.    
  
Her final request for him to look after Al, the dark bags under her eyes, and then, above all, her hand growing limp in his as she asked him to get her a corsage of flowers because flowers reminded her of Hohenheim. He remembered all to well how he and Al had sat at their mother's grave until sunset, and how it wasn't until days later that the reality of the matter finally set in after an argument he had with Alphonse and he, at long last broke down and cried about her death. 

It was about a month later that he developed the habit. At first it started off as simple scratching, but soon enough, that wasn't enough. Spilling blood, sometimes, made him forget the pain of loosing her and the self-blame he felt for not having been a better son, and for not doing enough to help her when she was still alive, because something told him that, even though Hohenheim was the person he hated most, just maybe, he himself was partially to blame for it as well, with all the stress that he caused her. Maybe he, along with Hohenheim, had helped contribute to making Trisha's illness just that much worse. 

Cutting helped him, even if only temporarily, forget the traumatizing and degrading experience he had at that one cursed orphanage at the hands of somebody he had almost started to trust.

Tearing his skin to pieces actually felt good sometimes, because he was certain he deserved it.   
  


When it came down to it, he missed his mother and knew that he would never be able to get her back, and not even Roy nor Riza could change that or replace their true parents. And yet, sometimes, he almost felt compelled to trust them and love them as if they  _ were _ his parents. But he knew that all of it was wrong. He wasn't supposed to feel this way.   
  
He  _ didn't deserve it. _

…

“Brother, it’s almost 6:30. Ms. Riza said you should get up or we'll be late.” The next morning, Edward was awoken by his brother’s voice outside the door calling for him to get up.

He sighed, sitting up in his bed. “Yeah, yeah, I know…”

In reality, he didn’t want to get up. He would honestly rather just stay in bed and sleep all day. Unlike Alphonse, he actually liked the idea of shutting out the entire world around him and staying to himself.

But, of course, that sadly wasn’t an option, because his ‘dad’ would beg to differ.

Edward hated school. This was a known fact. But he didn’t hate it because of trivial reasons like the school work sucked or he would rather stay home and read comic books.

On the contrary, Edward actually  _ liked _ learning, his favorite subject being science, and he would stay in the library for hours if he  _ could _ , just to  _ read  _ and absorb the knowledge that the books had to offer.

What Edward didn’t like, however, was the  _ people _ . 

Although he was fairly decent at putting up a facade when necessary, keeping up the energy to do so all the time was rather troublesome to him. And when it came down to it, he most certainly wasn't as well liked by people or as popular as his brother, who had a lot more friends than him, but he didn't really care about that. 

Getting up, he headed to the bathroom, and started to brush his hair(which was filled with tangles), trying his best to ignore the way his sleeve kept scraping against the recent cuts on his arm. Originally, he had had them covered by bandage wraps, but once he was sure the bleeding had stopped, he took them off to avoid all the itching and irritation that bandages always caused. After a moment, he called out. “Hey, Al, can you braid my hair?” 

“Get Mrs. Riza to do it for you, I’m busy.” Alphonse called back. 

Neither Al nor Ed could ever bring themselves to call Riza "mom", even if it had been two years since they had been taken in by her and Roy. And the relationship between Ed and Roy was far worse, as they always seemed to be butting heads, especially from Ed's side of things. For that matter, ever since Hohenheim's abandonment, Ed had never been all that fond of or comfortable around males to begin with, aside from Al. 

And even with that aside, Ed had just always preferred doing pretty much everything on his own, but braiding his own hair? Now that was one thing he had learned was nearly impossible, as much as he wanted to curse himself for how menial of a task it should have been, so he would always end up getting Al to do it for him, even though as a kid, he often got Trisha to do it for him. 

_ "Your hair is just like your father's, Ed." _ she had said.  _ "It kind of reminds me of the sun, just like those unusually golden eyes of yours. I think they're both gorgeous." _

He didn't want to ask Riza for help, he really  _ didn't _ , but apparently he had no choice if he wanted it to look good. But in the end, he realized there wasn't even a  _ need _ to ask, because:

“I’d be glad to do it for you.” He heard Riza’s voice, as she entered. She must have been just passing by.

Ed blushed a bit, not wanting to be an imposition on her. 

“Oh, well, if you're sure. I wouldn't have minded doing it myself, though.” Ed murmured, handing her the brush and hairband, letting her do his hair. "thanks…"

“Don’t mention it.” Riza returned in kind, smiling fondly, as she began worked her fingers through his hair and splitting it off into three different sections. “You don’t have to be so tense, you know. It's really no trouble.” 

"Mn… S-sorry." Ed stuttered in a low voice after a moment, trying his best to not be reminded of his mother's gentle touch, but utterly failing despite himself. Even though Riza could be rough and stern around the edges at points, there had always been a certain kindness about her that made both him and Al feel at ease, ever since the day they had met her and she introduced herself as one of their new caretakers. And when all was said and done, she did remind him of his mom, and that's what made it hurt so bad. Because, down deep, the nagging question always weighed him down like a tone of bricks:    
  
_ What happens if I do end up growing attached to her and the same thing happens to her that happened to Mom? "Parents" in the orphanage were always coming and going as they pleased, and that bastard Hohenheim abandoned us, not to mention that the one person aside from Al that I actually started to trust in that damned orphanage only used and hurt me, so what's stopping her and Roy from doing the same?  _   
  
Ed had always had attachment issues, and problems with trusting in others, it always took him a while before he got comfortable with people. Riza understood this well. For that matter, she and Roy had even been told by the head of the orphanage when they first adopted the brothers that Ed had become one of the most difficult and problematic kids they had ever had to deal with. But, even back then, she could tell that, just by looking into the 14-year old boy's eyes for even a single moment, that he was trying his very best to cope with a level of suffering and pain that no child his age should have  _ ever _ had to live with. 

Al's eyes also told a similar story as well and he was clearly holding onto a lot of his own pain, but the younger brother always remained polite to those around him, rarely ever snapping at his superiors. Ed, meanwhile, had taken  _ months _ before he finally settled in enough to treat either one of them with much respect, especially  _ Roy,  _ who had lost his patience and snapped back at the kid on multiple occasions. Most of the times, it was over utterly ridiculous things like Roy subtly scolding Ed for not making up his bed or leaving crumbs behind after he ate, where Ed would snap back at him to simply shut up on the best days(sometimes even cleaning up behind himself as requested albeit in a rather rushed and aggressive way).

But other times, it was much worse, where Roy had actually started bringing up some concerns he had over things like Ed not sleeping well enough, or how the boy would sometimes only eat very small portions of the food on his plate and throw away the rest. In these situations, Ed would get unnaturally flustered over it, far moreso than usual, once he even shouting out something like, "Quit butting into my life and acting like you're my father or something! The only _ father we _ had was that bastard Hohenheim and he abandoned us, just like all people in the orphanages that kept switching us back and forth." 

He had muttered the last part barely above a whisper, before trotting off in a fit, and leaving Roy silent for the first time ever. Nobody else could say anything to him either for a while, because it was in that moment that the reasoning behind lot of Ed's troublesome behaviors and strained relationship with Roy finally began to make sense.

Even with that event aside, back then if Alphonse wasn't there to deflect the argument between them and calm down his brother, Riza was the one who did it, because, out of her and Roy, she was the always one that Ed seemed to be calmer around even if he was kind of. Eventually, Ed's antagonism towards Roy seemed to die down a bit, and it wasn't as bad as it was in the beginning, and Ed would simply start stomping off into his room and slam the door when things would have otherwise escalated into a full-fledged argument. Now that the worst of it was, for the most part, no longer an issue, it was somewhat of relief to Riza, but she could still sense Ed's distrust that was directed at basically anybody aside from Al, and that honestly pained her. 

Unlike Al, who was a literally people-magnet and rather liked by others because of his sweet and kind personality, Ed tended to have very few people he associated with, aside from Al and some childhood friend named Winry that he'd apparently met in school years back. She had come over to see him a few times in the past, and they seemed to get along quite well, but it was clearly more of a sister-brother type relationship than anything else, and Winry and Ed both claimed they weren't interested in each other like that when Riza had posed the question. But aside from her, Ed seemed pretty much disinterested in the notion of people as a whole, or maybe he wanted friends, but didn't know how to go about it in a genuine way so he simply refrained from getting involved with others. Whatever the reason, Ed had been described by both his teachers and even peers as a loner.

Personally, Riza wished Ed understood that not all people are bad, that she and Roy really cared about him when it came down to it - that they weren't going to leave him if they could help it. She wished, more than anything, that he would try to trust in other people more. She wanted him to get out and make some more friends. 

But she understood how the boy was; she understood that he took a long time to warm up to people. Hell, he had been staying with her for two years and, while he had most certainly become much less tense around her and Roy, he still seemed aloof and kind of distant, sometimes staring off into space, almost like he was in his own world a lot of the time.

Because, even though he had recieved numerous praises from his teachers and always made good grades, especially in topics that he was interested in, like science and math, he had never been the most cooperative person in groups, he always preferred to do everything alone, and, overall, unless he had a motive in mind, his social skills were below average. 

Except when he talked to Al(and even Winry sometimes). Over the past couple of years, Riza noticed that him and Al got along exceptionally well for brothers. And unlike Ed's strained and forced acquaintanceship with other people, conversation between him and Al came natural to them, whether the topic be about novels, comic books, tv shows, or even math and science, both of which they had a knack for. And it was during those times that Ed sometimes smiled at him in a way that was unlike a lot of the cocky smirks and empty emotionless smiles he gave others. The rare smiles he granted Alphonse, she could tell, were not forced. They were genuine by all accounts and it deeply saddened her when see saw them, because they were just that rare. Even if they were always short lived, it was during those those moments that she got to see him go from that empty shell to a genuinely happy kid he most certainly used to be. 

She just wished he could be like that all the time, finally settle in and live his life like a child his age was supposed to. But she knew it wasn't that simple. It was  _ never _ that simple.

However, despite all of this, she would do whatever she could for him and his brother, because she loved them both, she loved them like were her own children. Even Roy, as tough and stern as he was, cared for Ed and Al just as much as she did, and any time one of them got hurt, he was always there to look after them and make sure that they were okay, even if he often tried to hide his concern by scolding them for being reckless. If anything, Roy was protective to a fault, which is what had led to Ed and him getting into some of the arguments they had. Then again, she herself had sometimes confronted Ed on concerns she had before, and it usually tended to go a lot more smoothly than it did with Roy, and yet the end result was the same with him derailing the conversation, lying through his teeth or saying it's nothing and that she shouldn't be so worried.

Meanwhile, even though Al was still sometimes a little awkward and apprehensive around them(as if questioning his place a little too much), he did seem to understand and accept that Roy and Riza cared about him and Ed, something of which Ed himself still had trouble grasping. And within the first couple of months after their adoption, Al had already started opening up to them, sometimes even going to Riza to talk about things that were bothering him, like the loss of his mother or how much he kind of missed some of the people he had met in the orphanages the brothers had been in, sometimes about their absent father and, more often than not, apologizing to both her and Roy about Ed's behavior and animosity towards Roy.

And naturally, as if it hasn't been so heavily implied before, Ed, on the other hand, hadn't been  _ nearly _ as easy going about the move and everything else as Al was, but both Roy and especially Riza understood that, down deep, the boy had never truly meant any ill-will behind his words and actions, and that, in his own way, he had only been trying his best to adjust to the new situation and 'home', and that was a process even Al himself couldn't speed up. And nobody expected him to do so.

“Is that good?” Riza finally let herself ask upon finishing the braid and allowing him to look into the mirror.

“Yeah, that should be good. Thanks again.” Ed said, reaching up and feeling the braid for himself. Afterwards, gaining a small smile from Riza, he left the bathroom, turning the light off behind him, before returning to his room to retrieve his bag. 

Throwing it over his shoulder, Ed then came into the kitchen, heading over to the table.

“Morning, Ed.” Roy said, glancing up from the newspaper he was skimming over. 

Edward grunted, but otherwise barely acknowledging his presence.    
  
"Hn. Unsociable as ever, I see." Roy remarked, in that tone he always used when he clearly wanted to press the boy's buttons. He smirked.   
  
"Yeah, and so  _ what _ ...?" Edward muttered. Under normal circumstances, he would have left it at that, but he was honestly extra irritated today, since it was the first day back to high school, something he always dreaded. Not to mention he hated early mornings and most certainly didn't feel like talking to anybody right now. So he groggily added, "Who would wanna be sociable with your ugly mug  _ anyways _ ?"

Roy and Ed used to get into a lot of heated arguments, but fortunately, as of late, most of their arguments were limited to snarky remarks. 

"Hm, it must not be all that bad considering I have a wife." Roy said, barely fazed by the boy's attempt at an insult, and not even bothering to look up at him this time. "Now, tell me, Ed. What does that say about you?"   
  
"I…! Yeah, well, maybe I don't want a girlfriend…!" Ed muttered as he sat down in the chair across from Roy, not being able to come up with a proper argument to deflect the other's. Why did he always have to have the last laugh about everything? That sick bastard clearly got a kick out of making him look like an idiot, putting him down in practically every way possible.

"Then get a boyfriend." Roy said, nonchalantly. "It's not like it matters to me what you do in bed." 

"I'm... not gay." Edward muttered after a moment of hesitation. Sure, there had been the occasional guy he had found attractive, and, for the most part, he wasn't all that interested in girls, even though Winry was kind of nice to him in other ways, but that didn't mean he wasn't straight, right...? That stuff took  _ years _ to figure out…! And he hated most of the guys he came across.

Roy looked back up, noticing how uncomfortable Ed looked. "Relax, kid. I was just joking." 

However, this didn't ease Ed's mind at all. What if he actually was gay? He had questioned it once or twice before, but now that Roy had mentioned it, he couldn't help but think about it. If he was gay, then that would be wrong of him on so many levels and if others found out they would make his life a living hell. Feeling attraction to the same sex… He wasn't supposed to-    
  


"Ed." Roy spoke back up again, snapping Ed out of his thoughts.    
  
"Huh?" the boy seemed a bit dazed.   
  
"You know it's... okay if you are, right...?" Roy felt a bit awkward being in such a position, but he could sense the unmistakable guilt and apprehension radiating from the boy as if he felt he was committing some terrible sin. And he knew he wouldn't feel right if he didn't say _ something _ . He had never actually pegged Ed for being gay, sure, but he most certainly wasn't lying when he said it didn't matter to him who Ed chose to be with. "I mean... nobody's going to judge you for it." 

Hell, if somebody  _ did _ happen to try to cause trouble for Edward over such a thing, and Roy caught wind of it, the person responsible would most certainly  _ not _ getting away lightly.

_ "You're wrong. You don't understand the half of it."  _ Ed wanted to say. He had seen kids get bullied and harassed over it, and he didn't want to put himself through that. 

But the words never left his mouth. Instead, he refused to look at Roy after that, he merely dropped of the conversation with, "It's not like it matters, either way, the last thing I want right now is some stupid relationship. It would just make everything worse..."

Besides, it  _ wasn't _ just a matter of not wanting to be in a relationship with somebody, or abstaining from it. He wasn't asexual, he felt urges and attraction like everybody else his age, and yet, due to the trauma he had experienced, sex ironically was too painful for him to even think about most times, and this was certainly not an exception. 

Roy opened his mouth to continue the conversation, to tell him that a relationship or at least another friendship might actually benefit him, but, in the end, he decided against it. He had long since learned that when Ed gave  _ that  _ look, trying to push things with him would never turn out well. So instead, he simply changed the topic, opting to ask Ed about another pressing matter: "Aren't you going to eat?"

Roy was obviously referring to the deviled eggs on the table that Riza had made and layed out for everybody. Roy had already got his share, but Edward hadn't touched them.

And it wasn't like Ed didn't noticed them, it was that he choice-fully ignored them. "I'm not hungry." 

"You should try to eat at least one, Ed. You can't go to school on an empty stomach." Roy tried his best to reason with the boy. He hated seeing Ed go without food like this. It had been three days since he had last eaten, and even if he had never passed out due to his anorexic tendencies before, that didn't make it any less concerning to him or anybody else in the household. Recently, he and Riza had both even considered and discussed getting Ed a therapist to talk to, but Roy himself wasn't all that fond of them, and Ed would mostly definitely be apposed to it, so Roy told her that it would probably be best to just keep a closer eye on Ed's behaviors for now. 

"Look, if I get hungry enough, I'll just get something from the cafeteria, alright?" Ed said, not wanting to discuss it further. 

For as long as he could remember, Ed had had periods where he had noticeably bad eating habits, which of course in turn made his moods only worse. Sometimes, when his anxiety and irritation levels were at their worst, if he wasn't cutting, he was skipping meals, sometimes going without food for several days before he finally ate again and returned to the normal routine of things, while, other times, when depression got to it's worst, Ed would sometimes binge-eat, only later feeling guilty and forcing himself to throw it all up. Clearly, neither Roy nor Riza knew about the purging, because there's no way either one of them would have  _ ever _ allowed such a thing to continue going on if they _ did _ , but both them and Alphonse  _ had _ picked up on his  _ other _ eating habits and had occasionally encouraged him to at least a few bites even when he didn't feel hungry. 

Of course, both of them knew he wasn't going to. And unfortunately, this was something that honestly bothered Roy about Ed going off nearly every day of the week; it was that he could always lie about having eaten, and Roy wouldn't know the difference. 

"And, tell me, Ed, how am I to be certain that you'll actually follow through with that plan of yours?" Roy challenged, giving him a look.

"I may be an idiot about some things, but I'm not stupid enough to let myself die from starvation, so just lay off my case already, will you?! All of you are always nagging at me over this, even Al does and it's getting downright annoying." Ed snapped.

At this point, Roy already knew there would be no point in furthering the discussion between them because things would only escalate and get much worse if he tried. It's not like he had any evidence to the contrary. While Ed's habits were undeniably unsettling, he had never once starved himself long enough to pass out from hunger. That was literally one of the only things stopping Roy from taking precautionary measures. 

And yet, even though he should have just left it at that, something stirred inside of him and he completely snapped, standing up and slamming his hands on the table, startling Ed in the process. "If you honestly can't _tell_, because you're_ that fucking_ **_blind_**, the reason we all keep bringing this with up you is because we _care_. We've been worried sick about you. Because, not only have these _moods_ of yours been getting a lot more _frequent lately_, but when you get like _this_, the most you ever eat is the bare minimum and a lot of the time, you don't even eat _that. This isn't healthy, Ed. _And yet, when we bring up valid concerns about your wellbeing, all you ever do is lie through your teeth and snap at us then act like _we're _the ones in the wrong. No matter what we say or do, you always have some snarky remark about everything and even your _brother_ understands that. For God's sake, Ed, he's constantly _apologizing_ for your behavior. And honestly? I don't even know we keep trying to put up with you..." 

It wasn't until moments later that, following a delayed silence, Roy immensly regretted what he had just said, cursing his big mouth and the words that had came out of it. Because, just then taking notice of the pain-filled look in boy's eyes, he could tell that he had majorly fucked up. 

"Then  _ don't _ …" Ed spat out in a harsh tone despite the unshed tears in his eyes. His lips curled into a small bitter smirk as he stood up. "After all, it would just be so much easier to simply hand me and my  _ baggage _ over to somebody  _ else _ to deal with  _ anyway _ ,  _ wouldn't _ it...? Just like all those other foster parents did." 

"Ed, that's not what I-" Roy started to say, slowly and cautiously approaching boy, but Ed ignored him, doubts and thoughts he had been holding back for who knows how long finally coming to the surface and exploding.

"Those sick bastards always say they'll stick around, they  _ promise _ they won't leave you, but as soon as they find out just how much trouble it's really worth, they all just abandon you, just like our  _ father _ … You're all the same…!" By this point he had reached the front door.

"Edward, nobody is leaving you." Roy assured him in the calmest tone he could manage, reaching out to grab the boy's arm. "Now if you would just listen to me-"

Upon feeling the man's hand start to grip his arm, Ed's body suddenly moved on autopilot, all sense of rationality gone. It wasn't just over the cuts on his arm that he wanted to hide, this was was an invasion of personal space he hadn't planned for, and above all else, in that moment, memories of something he had tried desperately to forget came flooding back ten-fold. 

"Don't touch me!" He shouted and Roy edged back a bit, utterly stunned, when the boy not only slapped his hand away but also tried to lunge at him. However, before Ed could truly land a blow on the older man, he heard Alphonse's voice calling out for him to stop, as he was pulled back by two sets of arms.    
  
"Brother, please stop." Alphonse pleaded.

"Edward, you have to calm down." Riza tried to soothe him.

Out of all of the time any of them had known Ed, he had never acted like  _ this _ . Even Alphonse was confused. It was true that Edward had got into plenty of verbal debates with Roy, but none of them had ever reached the point of getting physical.    
  
Finally after, what felt like an eternity, Edward seemed to calm down some, but still had a glassy look in his eyes. Pulling away, he looked down, letting his bangs shadow his eyes.   
  
"Forget it, I'm going on to the bus stop… meet me when you're ready, Al." He muttered, barely louder than an whisper. And maybe it was just a trick of their ears, but they were almost certain they heard a small "...sorry" leave his mouth.

And in the end, despite all the questions they had, none of them could bring themselves to stop him. He obviously needed time to cool down after whatever the _ fuck _ had just happened. Hell, they  _ all  _ needed some time. That was why when Ed went out the door, even Al didn't immediately follow him.    
  


** _A/N: I really hate the way this chapter turned out, but whatever..._ **

** _I feel sick to my stomach right now and I have a bad headache, so I need to rest now..._ **


	2. Chapter 2

** _Story: Coming Together, Chapter 2_ **

** _Disclaimer: I don't own FMA._ **

** _Thank you for the kudos and comments, I'm so happy y'all enjoyed the first chapter. Honestly, I didn't even expect to get ONE kudo for this..._ **

** _Also, I'm so sorry if Ling's introduction in this seems rushed or too routine or anything, I wrote it like this more from personal experience than anything else and Ed having a friend(eventually boyfriend) in their neighboorhood will be great to work with anyway. Also,_ ** ** _ even though it may not seem it at first, Ed's relationship with Ling is gonna be slow-burn. While Ed isn't all that sociable towards Ling at first and it's mainly Al doing the talking for him, I felt it was more natural that way, considering how Ed is in this. I _ ** **WILL ** _ **have Ed warm up to Ling though, and Al will become a big supporter of them eventually getting together<strike>(just as Ed will be supportive of Al getting with Wrath)</strike>, closely followed by Riza and Roy. But their acquaintanceship will be a little rocky at first due to me projecting traits of my own PTSD, BPD, Autism, eating issues, and self-harm onto Ed, and I will also be projecting things onto Wrath as well and basically everybody, just because I'm evil and depressing like that... TBH though, most of Ling's intro felt out of character though and I don't really like it that much. I don't really like any of this chapter...** _

**** ** _..._ **

"Alright, what the _ hell _ just happened, Roy…?" Riza crossed her arms, giving him an accusative look. She didn't use profanity often, and had in fact scolded Ed for using it on multiple occations, but the few times she did use it, everybody knew she wasn't playing around anymore.

"And what are you looking at me for? I barely _ touched _ him." Roy said nonchalantly, although it was obvious that he was shook up by Edward's outburst as well.  
  
Of course this only gained even more of an inquisitive look from Riza, who could easily tell he wasn't telling the whole truth.  
  
"Fine, if you must know, we got into an argument about his eating habits." Roy finally admitted, knowing she wasn't going to drop it unless he went into further detail. "I said he was being difficult and he started going off into a tangent, insisting we were going abandon him, so I grabbed his arm to get him to calm down. I tried to tell him that wasn't the case, but that's when he went off on me."

Riza didn't know what to think at this point. Roy _ definitely _ could have handled the situation much better by the sound of it, she was certain that there was more to it than even Roy had said. And it was fairly clear Ed _ did _ have an eating disorder at this point, which most certainly could have helping to contributing to a lot of his irritibility, depression and anxiety. But... Ed's reaction… It had just seemed too extreme even for something like that. 

After all, arguments over Ed's diet had never led to Ed trying to attack Roy before. So it was most likely the unexpected physical contact that set him off. 

Ed had never been all that fond of much physical contact to begin with, but this was especially true when it was unexpected. Without Ed's reaction being as extreme as it was, it wouldn't have seemed that odd, but the unmistakable terror was all to evident in Ed's eyes, _ too much _ so to _not_ be the result of something else. 

While Riza usually didn't like jumping to conclusions, a part of her almost wanted to think that his sensitivity to being touched was more than just a quirk, but rather partially due to some trauma in his past. But who would have-

Oh.

"Alphonse, did anybody in any of the orphanages you were in ever hit you or your brother?" Riza dared to ask. 

"Mm… Not, really…" Alphonse murmured, before he looked like he had just remembered something. "Oh, wait, there was this one matron that he would sometimes go off with, and there were quite a few occasions that Brother came back limping, but each time, they both told me he fell. I found it kind of odd, since he always seemed kind of depressed afterwards, but I never really thought much of it. Ed is kind of clumsy, after all…"

However, Riza was not an idiot, nor was she naive. She understood the weight of that implication just as much as Roy did. And if their suspicion was correct, then Ed had been- 

Roy suddenly clinched his fist, barely holding himself back from destroying something. For the longest moment, nobody said anything. But right as Roy finally started to open his mouth to speak, Riza decided it was better to take the initiative herself before the other said something he would definitely regret. "Al, can you tell us what the name of that matron was and which orphanage you were at at the time?" 

"Well, his name was Raven." Alphonse thought aloud. "But it's been years since then, and we were switched between so many different orphanages and foster homes, I can't really remember which one it was… Sorry."

"It's alright. Thank you." Riza said, before giving him a soft smile. "Now why don't you eat a few of those deviled eggs before you go. I'm sure you're hungry. And if you can, try to encourage your brother to eat something at school too, alright?"

"Right. Thanks, Mrs. Riza." Alphonse grinned shyly, although noticing the downcast look in Roy's face. (He decided not to question it for the time being.) 

"Don't mention it." Riza ruffled his hair a bit, causing the boy to blush. It was in these moments that Riza and her gentle nature reminded him of Trisha far much more than she should, but he tried his best to push those thoughts aside and went on with his business, quickly eating about five of the deviled egg halves before saying goodbye and leaving the house to catch up with Ed.

… 

The sun had barely risen, the sky dimly lit. It was rather foggy outside and Ed had sat down on the ground, leaning against the stop sign at the bus stop, which had been a few roads down from their home.

He barely acknowledged the passersby and the other few students who were waiting there as well. But he did take a moment to take a glance at who else was around. There were a few faces he recognized that lived nearby, but there was also a new one, a chinese boy with a rather beautiful and effeminate face who he had never seen before in his life. 

_He must be new to the area..._ _But it's not like it's my business._..

When the other boy's eyes momentarily met with his, he quickly turned his head away and focused on the ground in front of him. He just wanted Al to hurry up and get here so he wouldn't feel so alone.

And it wasn't long before Al finally did arrive. Ed could already guess what kind of conversation he had had with Roy and Riza after the incident. In all honesty, he was still undeniably irritated with Roy not dropping the conversation, so he didn't want to be lectured about it by Al _ too _. 

So right as Al seemed to be about to open his mouth, Ed cut to the chase before he could even speak. "Let me guess, Roy is mad, right?" 

Hopefully, they hadn't got any suspicions about his arm. It would be really troublesome if they got the idea he was hiding something.  
  
Al looked away, but sat down by his brother. "Mn… No, he's not mad, but he did seem kind of worried. Both him and Mrs. Riza are…" 

"Well, maybe he _ shouldn't _ …" Ed muttered, pulling his knees up to his chest. "It's not like I'm gonna _ kill myself _ or anything… And even if I did, why should it matter to _ them _? They're just fake parents."

"You know you shouldn't _ say _ stuff like that..." Al scolded, but whether he was referring to the comment about killing himself, or the comment about Riza and Roy being fake parents, he didn't know. Knowing Al, it was probably both.  
  
"Well, why _ shouldn't _ I? It's the truth, isn't it?!" Ed snapped, catching the attention of everybody around them. One of the kids, a girl, giggled at his outburst, immediately receiving a glare from Edward before shutting up. 

Al smiled nervously and tried to awkwardly assure them that it was nothing. After a moment, Al moved in closer and scolded him yet again. "_ Brother, keep your voice down…! _ You know they're only worried because they care, right...?"

Ed simply 'tch'd, before muttering out a small reluctant, "Yeah, I know…" and left it at that. Down deep, a small part of him did understand why Roy and Riza were concerned, why they cared, but he didn't want to admit it. 

Al sighed, deciding it was better to drop it for the time being. In that moment, he remembered the look on Roy's face from earlier, unable to keep his mind from wondering. 

Had Raven done something bad to Ed that he hadn't been aware of, after all...?

Sure, he had always found Ed's limping kind of odd, but Raven had always been so kind to him, he never seemed like somebody that would hurt them. He had always really liked Raven. 

Then, again, now that he thought about it… On the few occasions the man's name got brought up, Ed not only got fidgety, he always seemed kind of… _ off _, always seeming quick to deflect and change the topic.

Suddenly, something rose inside of him. Had his brother been hiding something from him all along? Just what had happened between him and Raven? Could such a seemingly nice man have actually hurt his brother? 

"Brother...?" Al spoke in a low voice.

"What is it...?" Edward inquired.

"I was… wondering...Did… something…" Al suddenly felt at a loss of words, looking off to the side. How was he even supposed to approach such a topic without upsetting Ed? More over, this wasn't a good place to do so to begin with. "Mn, no, it's nothing…"

Ed looked at him a bit dumbfounded, before smiling a bit. "What's with you, Al? You're so weird sometimes, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know…" Al said, sheepishly, and in the end, he knew he wouldn't be able to push himself to bring it up. Maybe Roy or Riza would talk about it with him if it were that serious. They had seemed worried themselves as well. "But I get that from you, brother." 

"Whaaat? No way." Ed denied it. "_ You're _ way weirder than _ I _ am."

"Am not…!" Al lamely retorted.

"are _ too _." Ed smirked. 

"From where I'm looking, both of you seem pretty weird to me." 

Ed and Al looked over when another voice spoke up. It was the Chinese boy, who was sitting several feet away. However, his statement was clearly not meant with ill-intent and was said rather light-heartedly. Additionally, for being Chinese, the teen's accent actually seemed flawless. If he said he had been born and raised here(in this country), they honestly wouldn't be surprised. 

Ed was silent for a moment, before blushing a bit and folding his arms. "Yeah, well nobody asked you, squinty eyes."

"Brother, that wasn't very nice! Apologize!" Al scolded him _ yet again that day _. Even though Al knew that Ed didn't mean it in a racist way(he wasn't a judgemental person), but from the other kid's side of things, there's no way he could have possibly known that. 

"Quit treating me like a baby! I'm_ sorry _, alright?!" Ed said reluctantly with a huff.

"It's fine, really." the other boy smiled, though it was hard to tell if he meant it. He seemed nervous. "I'm actually rather used to it by now." 

"Oh, I see..." Al murmured, and after a moment, Ed's facial expression softened just a bit. Both Al and even Ed(despite how obnoxious and irritable he could be at times) were two of the most open-minded boys out there, and neither one of them liked hearing about people being discriminated against because of the color of their skin or anything else of the sort. "Well, I'm Alphonse, and this is Edward. He may seem kind of mean at first, but he's actually not all that bad once you get to know him, I promise."

It wasn't entirely the truth considering Ed's history with other people, especially males(particularly older ones though), but Al had been by his side the longest out of anybody else, and he knew that Ed wasn't by any means a bad person down deep. He just had severe trust issues due to their past. He had got along well with Winry and Pinako after all. And he certainly seemed to be warming up to Riza too, even though Roy was still a little more arguable… Ed seemed to grumble in response, but didn't do much other than that.

"Edward, huh? He does seem rather feisty, even with you. It's almost kind of funny, considering how small he is." Ling smiled.

"Don't call me small!" Edward snapped. At this point, the entire conversation had become everybody's sole focus, and Alphonse couldn't even blame them at this point. They had all been fairly loud.

Ever since Al could remember, Trisha had been the only one allowed to get away with calling Ed small, in which she would often refer to him as her 'little man", but now that she was gone, even Al himself or Winry couldn't get away with saying the taboo word around him. For_ years _ now, his height had always been a source of insecurity for Ed. Roy himself had picked up on that much within months and often used it as leverage to tease Ed with, which of course never led to anything good. 

And, yet, this boy, whoever he was, had used the very word Ed despised to refer to him with within seconds of their introduction. Al was beginning to wonder how well this was even gonna go.

"Calm down, Ed…" he drawled, attempting to placate his brother, before looking back over at the Asian boy, who had just moved over to where they were. "So what's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's Ling Yao." The boy introduced himself. Ed jumped a bit when Ling grabbed his and Al's hands to greet them. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you" 

Trying to ignore how warm Ling's hand was against his, the blond immediately pulled back, not too keen on the physical contact, but surprisingly, and much to Al's relief, he didn't try to attack him like he had tried to attack Roy earlier. Instead, he simply looked away, and muttered barely above a whisper, "...You don't have to be so formal with us, you know… We're not adults or anything..." 

"Ha-ha, sorry about that," Ling said, a bit sheepishly. "My father has always insisted I keep up formalities when greeting others, so it's kind of a habit, I guess."

"Oh, I see. You must have a pretty good father then." Alphonse noted aloud. 

"Yeah, something like that." Ling said, his brows furrowing. Once again, there was that odd nervousness about the way he talked, but this time, only Ed noticed it, feeling like there was something that Ling wasn't telling him. That was the same way he himself would have said the same thing when he really wanted to say, "_ Not really... _"

However, right as Ed found himself questioning what Ling's father was like, he scolded himself. What did he care anyway? It wasn't like they were friends or anything. _ Hell, he had just met the guy…! _

And yet, despite himself, it didn't stop the curiosity from seeping up inside of him.

"So how long have you been in the area?" Al suddenly asked, before he himself could. "Are you from around here?" 

"No, I'm from China, I actually just moved here a few months ago..." Ling explained. "Believe it or not, this isn't actually my first language."

"Really? But you speak so fluently…!" Al remarked in amazement. 

Ed himself too was a bit surprised, and before he could think to stop himself, he was contributing to the conversation. "Yeah, I honestly couldn't have told the difference." 

"You really think so?" Ling was seemingly taken aback by their compliments. "Well, that's a relief. I was kind of worried about my accent. But I have taken a lot of classes, so I guess that could explain a thing or two."

"So, um... do you have any siblings?" Ed asked in a sort of detached way, trying to act as though he wasn't all that interested, even though it was quite the opposite. 

"Quite a few, actually, but none of us are really all that close… Certainly not like you too at least." Ling said. There seemed to be a certain edge to his voice that told Ed it was probably best not to press the matter any further.

_ What about your mom? _

Something urged him to ask that, but before he could, the bus arrived. In the end, he didn't even try to continue the conversation. It wasn't like he particularly _wanted_ to, either. After all, Ling's family business was really none of his concern, and it needed to _stay_ that way. He had enough of his own issues going on. The last thing he needed was to think about the affairs of somebody he had just met, least of all another _male_.

Hell, even now, he _regretted_ conversing with him.

Or at least... _wanted_ to regret it.

...

"As soon as I hunt down that Raven guy, I'll kill him myself...!" Roy stormed around the living room in a tangent. He couldn't get over the idea that somebody had dared to lay their filthy hands on Edward, who, screw being 'adoptive', might has well have been his own son. _ A child. _

"Calm down, Roy," Riza said sternly, even though she herself was no less frustrated with the whole situation than he was. "Right now, you're getting worked up over a mere possibility that we don't even have a definite answer on yet. We have to confirm this with Ed before anything else, and even then… if it _ is _ true, the most important thing is making sure he doesn't blame himself for what happened."

Roy clinched his fists at that, but knew she was right, Ed's mental well-being needed to be their top priority above all else right now, and Ed was the only one that give the certain answers they needed. His expression softened, but was still pained.

"...You know, if our suspicions are correct, it's no wonder Ed feels as much distrust towards men as he does… That must be why he hates _ me _ so much..."

Riza sighed, recognizing the look of insecurity in the man's eyes all too well. Roy had always had severe doubts in his parenting skills when it came to his ability to look after and deal with the kid. He would constantly question if he was even suited to be a father, adoptive or otherwise. More than anything, in these moments, he was almost certain that Ed genuinely despised him. And honestly, that thought hurt a lot more than it probably should have.

"We've been through this before, Roy…" Riza said softly, holding her hands up to his cheeks and getting him to look up at her. "Ed doesn't hate you and he never has... He just has a very hard time expressing himself… He's a little like you, sometimes..." 

Under normal, circumstances, Roy probably would have denied it, and Ed most certainly would have, but they both knew it was truth in the end. And Roy himself had grown up with his aunt who had taken him in after his parents died at an early age, so he could at the very least understand a little bit of what the kid was going through. 

"I just wish he would open up and trust me more…" Roy said with all honesty. Riza was probably the only person in his life that he would ever be this honest with, and it wasn't like it was worth trying to hide things from her anyway, as she could practically read him like a book.

"And I'm sure he will… He just needs time..." Riza assured him, planting a small kiss on his lips.

"But it's been_ two years, _Riza…" Roy pointed out.

"And we'll give him_ ten more_ if he needs it." Riza refused to back down. "We're not about to give up on that child, Roy… Being given up on..., having people turn their backs on him… That's the _exact reason_ he's _like that_ in the _first place._.."

"I hadn't planned on it…" Roy said, meaning every word. "but sometimes..., I can't help but wonder if he's given up on _ me _..."

…

** _A/N: I don't really like the way this one turned out either, but I guess I might as well post it because if I keep messing with it, I'll just make things worse…? Arg_ **

** _Yet again my head is hurting and I feel sick to my stomach... welp_ **


End file.
